Life saving device for submarines



July 21, 1931. H. ECKEL ET AL LIFE SAVING DEVICE FOR SUBMARINE'S FiledMay 2'7. 1929 Patented July 21, 1931 entree stares flaunt now-w. Annnanny SCI-ZUENHOFF, or HAMELTON, GNTAREO, CANADA LIFE saviuo nnvrcr: ronsnsnesiuns Application filed May 27, 1929. Serial N6. 368,368.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in life saving andsafety devices for use on submarines, as described in the presentspecification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which formpart of same 7 The invention consists essential'ly'oi a leakproofchamber adapted to be detachably secured to'a submarine, and novel meansof establishing comiminications between or for detaching said chamberfrom the submarine and sealing said communications I against leakageboth into the submarine or into the Cl1Ll11bG1,l$ pointed out in theclaim for novelty following a description containing an explanation indetail of an acceptable form of the invention." 7

The obj ects of the invention are to provide a life saving device forsubmarines which maybe readily brought into operation and in which theoccupants of a submarine may be safely conveyed to the surface of thewaterirom a submerged vessel; to construct such a safety device in whichthe, occupants r may'remain afloat without injury fronithe elements foran indefinite period and which ahords means for the. storage of foodsupplies and the like; to construct a submarine life boat that may bereadily adapted for useon existing types of submarines .without re":quiring' costly alterations or entailing expen sive labour cln es; todevise asu'bmarine lifeboat that will safely convey an indefinite numberof the occupants of a submerged submarine to the surfacewithou'texposing them to the extreme pressures met'witnin certain depths ofwater; to eliect meanswhereby the rising speed of the-lifeboat may becontrolled throughout its ascent to the surface of thewater from asubmerged submarine; to prevent to a large extent loss of life due tothe accidental sinking of submarines; and generally to provide a oevic'eof this descriptioncapable i accomplishing the aforesaid results andpurposes/f.

. In the drawings, Figure 1 is a part section and part side e'levationalView otthe device complete as installed on a submarine."

FigureQ' is a plan View of Figure 1. I

the subma. ine.

Figure 4 is a sectionviewtalien on lines lin Figure 8. v I

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on lines 5+5 in Figure 2. w

inkenumerals or reference 1nd1cate corre spending parts in the variousfigures.

Referring to the drawin s, the numeral indicates tle device complete.'11 is an up per portion of the hull of a submarine; 12 a leakproofchamber ofsufiicient size to float on the surface of the water with itsload, which comprises the passengers, various supplies, control anddriving mechanism and the enclosing walls 13 of the chamber itself. Thewalls 13 or the chamber 12 are preferably formed of a toughlight weightmetal and may be suitably brac'ed in any well known manner compatiblewith the usual methods of construction in pressure resisting chainbers.The chamber 1 may be constructed in various shapes according to thewisliesof the designer. f V f In Figures 1 and 2- l have shown afeasible design in which the forward part A is tapered to provide asuit-able prowl The rearportion of the chamber-12 is rounded to form thestern A raised portion 16 is formed on the upper side ofthe chamber 12and has suitable ventilating valves 17 formed in the side walls there-oiA lealrpjroor" cover 18 is pivotally mounted on said raised portion 16and may be opened when the "device is floating on the surface or" thewater.

The central. portion of the base 20 of the chamber 12 is form-ed'with'aflattened under surface adaptedto conform with and bear on the deck 21of a submarine, as at 22. An opening 23 is formed'in the base portionand is of suflicient size to allow for the passage of the passengerstherethrongh. A manhole 2 1 is formed in the deck of the submarine,slightly smallerthan the opening" 28, so as to provide the peripheralportion 25 therearound, projecting beyond the periphery of the opening23, when said opening is brought into-alignment with the opening 2 L Aplurality of screws'26 passing through openings formed in the flattenedbaseiportion 20 are threaded into openings 27 formed in thedeck 21 andserve to detachably secure the base 20 of the chamber 12 to the deck 21of the submarine and to retainthe openings 23 and 24 in proper alignmentwith each other. Communications are now established between the chamber.12 and the interior of the submarine 11 by way of the openings 23 and24. A suitable leakproof gasket 30 is preferably inserted between thebase 20 and the deck 21 at this point'to prevent leakage of any sort.The head of each cap screw26 is enclosed in a leakproof casing 31,substantially as shown in Figure 4. A socket wrench 32 mounted on andaligned with a shaft 33 is situated in each casing 31 and directly abovethe cap screw head. The shaft 33 is reciprocally and rotatably mountedin the casing 31 and is surrounded at its mounting by a suitable packinggland 34. In order to seal the opening 23, a door 35 is preferablyhingedly mounted as at 36 to the upper side of the base 20. The door 35extends over the opening 23 and may be secured in its closed position bythe cap screws 37 passing through openings 38 formed therein andthreaded into the base 20 as at 39. y

A suitable leakproof gasket 39A is preferably inserted between the door36 and the base 20 to ensure a leakproof joint therebetween.

A door 40 similar to the door 35 is hingedly mounted to the underside ofthe deck 21 as at 42 and is adapted to swing to a closed position underthe opening 24 formed in the deck 21. The door 40 may be secured in itsclosed position by cap screws 43 passing through openings 43A in theportion 25 of the deck 27 and threaded into the door 40 as at 44. Asuitable leak proof gasket 45 is preferably situated between the door 40and the deck 21 to prevent leakage. V

Suitable fore and aft braces 46 ez-ztending upwardly from the deck 21and secured thereto may be provided to support the chamber 12 and aresecured thereto by cap screws 26A passing through the walls of thechamber and threaded into said braces. A casing 311 having a socketwrench mounted therein sim ilar to the casing 31, of said cap screws 26Asimilar to that shown inthe former case at 31.

Suitable ports or sights 60 may be formed in the walls of the chamber 16and are covered with a heavy pressure resisting glass and properlysealed against leakage. In order to retain the door 40 in its closedposition under ordinary circumstances, when the safety de vice 10 is notin use, suitable cap screws 61 are passed through openings 62 and fromthe under side ofsaid door and threaded into the deck 21 as at 63.

A suitable power unit 50 adapted to drive a propeller 51 may be mountedin the chamber 12 and utilized to propelthe device along is mounted overeach the surface of the water, and a steering apparatus 53 is installedat the stern of the deviceand is adapted to be operated from theinterior thereof. As the method of steering and propelling the deviceand the method of installation of the water ballast tanks are all wellknown to the art, it is considered unnecessary to specify particularlythe constructional details involved in these different mechanisms.

In the operation of this invention, the de vice 10 is secured to thehull of the submarine by means of the cap screws 26A. Communicationsbetween the submarine and chamber 12 from the life boat are establishedby bringing the covers 35 and 40 to their open position. A ventilatingvalve 17 is retained in its closed position to prevent leakage of waterinto the chamber 12 and the leakproof chamber 18 is retained in itsclosed position for the same reason. i

If the submarine to which the life boat is attached is unable to rise tothe surface of the water due to accident or other causes, and the crewdesire to escape therefrom, the crew or passengers in the submarineafter entering the chamber 12, pivot the cover 40 to its closed positionand effectively seal the opening 40 by threading the cap screws 43 totheir final position. The cover 35 is then pivoted to its closed.position and effectively sealed by threading the cap screws 37 to theirfinal position to bring the cover 35 into close engagement with theleakproof gasket 39A.

The chamber 12 may now be detached from the submarine by unscrewing thecap screws 26 from the deck 21 and by unscrewing the cap screws thatsecure the braces 46 to the side walls. 13. The device now is free tofloat to the surface of the water. If the vessel is at any depth, thewater ballast tanks should be flooded to prevent too precipitous anascent to the surface of the water. After reaching the surface, the airvalves 17 may be opened to aid in ventilation and the propelling andcontrolling mechanism, as indicated at 51 and 53, is then brought intooperation. The cover 18 may now be opened if weather conditions permit.

It is to be noted of course that suitable oxygen producing apparatus'may be installed, but as this class of device does not involveinvention and is well known to the art, it need not be described.

What we claim is:

In a life boat for submarines, a leakproof enclosed vessel adapted to besecured to the deck of the submarine and having a flattenedunder-surface with a central opening adapted to be in alignment with anopening in the submarine deck, hinged doorways closing in the openings,a plurality of bell-shaped casings bolted to the baseportion of thevessel, each of said casings having a water-tight chamber forming acontainer for a cap screw adapted to project through the base portion ofthe boat and into the deck of the submarine and forming a journal memberfor a socket Wrench adapted to engage with the head of the vessel in theWater-tight chamber, and projecting upwardly from the bellshaped casingand adapted to be manually operated, a plurality of brace members boltedto the submarine deck and bolted at the other end to the underside ofsaid vessel by means of cap screws enclosed in bell-shaped casings, anda plurality of ballast tanks secured in said vessel.

Signed at the city of Hamilton, this 23rd day of February, 1929.

HENRY ECKEL.

HARRY SCHUENHOFF.

